1. They can be hard to find, but today's safety
glasses are as attractive as designer street glasses
and offer much better protection
BY TOM O'BRIEN
On-Guard O58nybody remember Gump Wors-
ley? He was the last goaltender in
the National Hockey League to
play his entire career without wearing a
mask. Worsley, who retired in 1974, is the
perfect symbol ofa bygone era: a time before
bicycle helmets, child safety seats, shoulder
harnesses, air bags and secondhand smoke; a
time when lead paint and asbestos were re-
spected building materials. Thankfully, we
take personal safety a lot more seriously
these days—exceptwhen it comes to our eyes.
According to the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA), 1,000 eye
injuries occur every day in American work-
places, almost one-third resulting in some
vision loss. Prevent Blindness America, the
nation's leading volunteer eye-health organi-
zation, estimates that as many as 90% of
these injuries could be prevented with the
use of proper eye wear. Some work haz-
ards—chemical handling, spot welding, con-
crete chipping, for example—require special-
ized types ofeye protection. But for the most
part, residential builders just need a good
pair of safety glasses with side shields.
Why not street glasses?
A job site is a dangerous place. You never
know when an errant nail, a lump ofconcrete
Buddy Holly
could always get
his favorite style
of safety glasses, but
these days, the rest of us
can find serious eye
protection in many
attractive styles.
or a dropped
pry bar might
fly through the
air. CliffValarose, a
health and safety
trainer with the United
Brotherhood of Carpenters,
emphasizes that safety glasses are
not something to be worn only when
you think your eyes might be at risk. "Safety
glasses with side shields must be worn all the
time. If you get in the habit of taking them
on and off, you'll get complacent, and that's
when serious eye injuries can occur."
Builders with 20/20 vision have it relatively
easy: They can choose safety glasses from a
huge variety ofwraparound styles that look
almost as cool as the Oakley sport glasses
worn by professional athletes. Of course,
they have to get used to wearing glasses all
day long. Visually challenged builders like
me don't have that problem. But we have the
A

2. dork factor to contend with. For years, our
eye-protection options were limited to inex-
pensive but dorky safety specs that we had to
wear over our street glasses, or we could
choose from a limited number of dorky pre-
scription safety glasses, all ofwhich involved
minor variations on the Buddy Holly theme.
Small wonder that many of us convinced
ourselves that our street glasses were all we
really needed to protect our eyesight on the
job. These days, all eyeglass lenses are de-
signed to be shatterproof, so street glasses
can provide a modest level ofeye protection.
But they offer no protection against side im-
pacts or severe frontal impacts. Terry Krug, a
construction instructor at OSHA's Training
Institute, warns that a severe impact can
shatter a street-glass lens, or worse, he says,
"The lens could be driven into the eye and
actually scoop out the eyeball."Yuck.
Safety lenses, frames and side shields are
designed to work as a system that protects
the eyes from impact. All safety glasses have
to meet the ANSI Z87.140 standard for im-
pact protection. The testing procedures in-
volve dropping a high-mass object onto the
lenses and firing a high-velocity (BB-like)
projectile into the lenses. Safety glasses that
meet the ANSI standard will have the man-
ufacturer's logo etched into the corner ofeach
lens and the Z87 symbol stamped into the
frames and side shields (bottom photo).
Plenty of options (now) available
Ifyou tried to buy safety glasses in the past
and found nothing but dismal choices, look
again. Major manufacturers such as Titmus
and AOSafety have seen the light. Remove
the side shields (off the job site), and their
top-of-the-line offerings could be mistaken
for the best of Ralph Lauren or Perry Ellis
(photos right). As with designer frames, you
should expect to pay upward of $300 (in-
cluding lenses) for the Titmus Titanium se-
ries or AO's Urban series, but you will not be
embarrassed to attend a job meeting while
wearing these safety glasses.
Even inexpensive safety glasses have come
a long way. The most basic styles still make
the wearer look like a Drew Carey wanna-
be, butyou can purchase a reasonably attrac-
tive frame with single-vision lenses for as lit-
tle as $100 (top photos, p. 82).
Street-style safety glasses equipped with
side shields provide very good front and side
protection, but they do not fully seal the
eyes. Workers whosejobs involve dangerous
chemicals, lead paint, severe dust or other
hazards need more aggressive eye protection
(photos p. 83). A guide for selecting the ap-
propriate type of eye and face protection for
NICE ENOUGH TO WEAR OUT
Lightweight, comfortable and attractive frames such as
the Titanium series from Titmus and the Urban series
from AOSafety will make you forget
you're wearing safety glasses.
Removable side
shields (specially
designed for
each frame)
Titmus Ext6 Titanium
Easy on, easy off. A simple
twist of the wrist is all it takes
to remove the side shields,
thus allowing these safety
glasses to double as street
glasses. For adequate protec-
tion, side shields must be worn
on the job.
Clip-on sun lenses
available as option
AOSafety Urban 1
Bifocals
Removable side shields
PROOF THEY'VE
PASSED THE TEST
All safety glasses that meet the
ANSI Z87.140 standard for
impact protection have the Z87
symbol stamped into the
frames and the side shields.

3. EVEN BUDGET STUFF IS LOOKING BETTER
The Rx3003 from Uvex is an inexpensive version of that
company's familiar nonprescription safety frame. The SC900
from Titmus is the most popular safety
frame that company sells. Both
frames can be set up with
single-vision lenses
for a total cost of
$100 or less.
UVEX Astro Rx3003
Prescription inserts
Nonremovable
side shields
Titmus SC900
SPORT GLASSES ALSO PROVIDE SERIOUS EYE PROTECTION
Professional athletes depend on sport glasses such as the M Frame from Oakley
(800-878-8584; www.oakley.com) to protect their eyes. Can builders do the same?
The short answer is yes. According to Sloane Costello, sales manager for Oakley Rx,
Oakley's lenses exceed all ANSI Z87.140 standards for impact protection. He assures
me that their frames would also exceed ANSI standards
if Oakley had submitted them
for testing, which it has not.
If your work rules require eye wear
that's fully tested and approved, Oakleys
won't
do. But
if you're a
self-employed
builder who's also a
weekend warrior, a good pair
of sport glasses might be the
perfect choice.
-T.O.
particular hazards is available by visiting
OSHA's Web site (www.osha-slc.gov/
OshStd_data/1926_0102.html). Depending
on the situation, workers maywear protective
goggles or face shields over safety glasses.
The right optician is essential
For years, the market for safety glasses was
almost exclusively factory workers. Manu-
facturers sold their products directly to the
workers or their employers, so there wasn't
much incentive for private opticians to get
involved. All of that is changing, but it's
changing slowly. Ifyou walk into a suburban
LensCrafters, for example, and ask to see
their safety glasses, don't be surprised if the
clerk has to root around for 10 or 15 minutes
before finally emerging with a dust-covered
case that contains four or five nearly identi-
cal pairs of Buddy Holly glasses.
In my limited experience, independent op-
ticians tend to be more knowledgeable about
safety glasses than the major eye-wear
chains; however, I've been told that the opti-
cal departments at many Sears, Target and
Wal-Mart stores have recently begun to ex-
pand their inventories of safety frames. The
best way to hunt down a knowledgeable dis-
penser of safety glasses in your area is to use
the search features available at most of the
manufacturers'Web sites (sidebar facing page).
Any optician can order a frame for you, but
a first-rate dispenser of safety glasses will
stock a wide selection offrames you can try
on in the store. A knowledgeable optician
can help you find the right fit—for safety as
well as appearance—and help you choose the
best lens options. All the lens-grinding op-
tions available for street lenses (such as pro-
gressive lenses, bifocals and trifocals) can be
accommodated within safety lenses.
The material from which a safety lens is
made can be glass, plastic or polycarbonate.
Polycarbonate is almost always the best choice.
Lighter than glass, more impact-resistant
than either glass or plastic and more scratch-
resistant than plastic, polycarbonate also fil-
ters out harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
A clear polycarbonate lens eliminates UV
radiation but not the sun's glare. Fortunately,
builders who work outdoors have a number
of options for safety sunglasses. Any lens
material can be darkened. A safety lens can
also be made as a photochromic lens, which
darkens and lightens according to changing
light conditions. A few styles ofsafety glass-
es are also available with clip-on sun lenses.
Don't just wipe 'em on your sleeve
Ifthey're worn correctly—eight hours a day,
five days a week—safety glasses will collect

4. Rx FOR EXTREME CONDITIONS
Guard Dogs from U. S. Safety (photo below) provide superior
protection from flying objects and airborne particles. Stealth
goggles from Uvex (photo right) also protect against
chemical splashes. Both models feature prescription
inserts that mount behind the
replaceable safety lenses.
Both models of safety glasses easily come
apart for cleaning or for replacing the
wraparound safety lenses.
Stealth goggles (Uvex)
Safety lens available in
clear, amber or gray
Wraparound lens
available in seven
different shades
Guard Dogs Purebred (U.S. Safety)
plenty ofdirt and grit. Polycarbonate lenses
are scratch-resistant, not scratchproof. Job-
site dust that settles on the lenses will act like
sandpaper if dirty lenses are merely wiped
clean. "Wash your glasses when you wash
your hands," says Francine Jones ofTitmus
Optical. Jones recommends rinsing safety
glasses under water, washing the frame as
well as the lenses with hand soap and wiping
them dry with a clean, soft cloth. Ifwater is
not available, she suggests using premoist-
ened towelettes that are specially
made for cleaning eyeglasses
(photo below). Cleaning time is also a good
time to inspect safety glasses for signs of
damage. Breaks or weaknesses in the frame
or deep scratches in the lens are signs that
the glasses may need to be replaced.
With their easily removable side shields,
the new generation of designer safety glasses
is so attractive that wearers might be tempt-
ed to dispense with their street glasses alto-
gether. This practice is fine, providing the
wearer remembers to replace the side shields
each day before starting work. A better
solution is to invest in a pair of
safety glasses that is dedicated
specifically for work.Job-site cleaning kit. Pre-
moistened towelettes can
be used to clean safety
lenses when soap and wa-
ter aren't available.
Tom O'Brien is an associate editor at
Fine Homebuilding. Photos by
Scott Phillips.
Sources of safety glasses
Here is a list of some of the most
prominent manufacturers of prescription
safety glasses.
AOSAFETY (division of Aearo Inc.)
5457 W. 79th St., Indianapolis, IN 46268
(800) 982-2828 / aosafetysrx.com
ARTCRAFT OPTICAL CO. INC.
57 Goodway Drive S., Rochester, NY 14623
(800) 828-8288 / artcraftoptical.com
HUDSON OPTICAL
18TV-5 Drive, Henderson, NV 89014
(800) 458-1920
ON-GUARD SAFETY CORP.
2-344 N. Rivermede Road
Concord, ON, Canada L4K 3N5
(800) 268-1265 / onguard.ca
TITMUS OPTICAL
3811 Corporate Drive, Petersburg, VA 23805
(800) 446-1802 / titmus.com
U.S. SAFETY
8101 Lenexa Drive, Lenexa, KS 66214
(800) 821-5218 / ussafety.com
UVEX
10 Thurber Blvd., Smithfield, Rl 02917
(800) 343-3411 / uvex.com